11 - 12PM

Guided Meditation with Yumi Sakugawa

Join Yumi Sakugawa for her classic guided meditation at CALA to start the day. Learn how to meditate, engage in powerful visualization exercises for connecting with your creative intuition and practical rituals for inviting more inspiration into your daily life and artistic practice.

12 - 1PM

Drawing the Line: The Art of Resistance

How can comics function as activism? Featuringzinesters Alice Wynne and Julie Fiveash as well as Jules Sharron of Secret Headquarters, sharing their activism through comics. In the second half, share your thoughts while building stronger connections to your community in the open forum. Hosted by Taneka Stotts.

1 - 2PM

Color Theory For Kids

Minnie Phan presents a workshop for kids to explore color and silhouette through the use of a color wheel and colored pencils or crayons. Ages 5-10.

2 - 3PM

COMICS & FILM

The filmmaking pipeline consists of scripts, storyboards, visual development, and production– but how can that pipeline help you as a comic artist? Moderated by Victoria Ying, and featuring Shea Territo, Asia Miller, Tola Howard, and Sam Grinberg, this panel will discuss how filmmaking influences comic making (or vice versa!), how comic artists can develop their stories further using the filmmaking pipeline and the cinematic eye of a filmmaker.

3 - 4PM

RISOgraph TECHNIQUES

Learn the essentials of prepping files for print on a Risograph, the machine's strengths and limitations, and creating a wide spectrum of hues using its inks. Our panelists Natalie Andrewson, Arlin Ortiz, and Ryan Cecil Smith will guide you through the process of working with the Risograph machine, sharing tips to help you access its full potential.

4 - 5PM

AI OPEN FORUM

Join us for an open forum exploring the impact of AI on the world of art and comics, led by moderator Angie Wang. Share your thoughts, questions, and concerns about how AI is affecting creativity, ethics, and the future of visual storytelling.

11 - 12PM

GRAPHIC MEDICINE & COMICS

Join us for a conversation on the intersection of comics and healthcare, featuring creators and advocates whose work is shaped by personal experiences with illness or a commitment to empowering communities through the language of comics. Moderated by Charles Hatfield, join cartoonist Chris Fink, cartoonist Naomi Volain, researcher David Lo, and Graphic Medicine board member Barbra Dillon as they explore how art can capture the complexities of living with illness, serve as catharsis and create meaning in times of profound difficulty, and become a tool for advocacy and education.

12 - 1PM

Exploring Romance Through Horror

The horror genre is always bloody, spooky, and fun! But just because something has elements of "horror" in it doesn't mean it's necessarily scary! Artists Yasmeen Abedifard, Connor B., Lonnie Garcia, and Nick Winn talk about why horror is a great genre to explore complicated relationships, first dates, and high school crushes in their current work. Moderated by author, educator, host of Drawing a Dialogue, and fellow artist Cathy G. Johnson.

1 - 2PM

Art School for Comics: Should You Do It?

Going to art school can be a big commitment. It works for a lot of artists and it can be a great opportunity. It can also be a big burden. Are there alternatives? Does art school really help? Is it an investment? In this panel, four different creators—Nero Villagallos O’Reilly, Henry Barajas, Kel McDonald, and Meghan Boehman—who took different paths to making comics part of their profession talk about what their art education looked like both inside and outside a class room, moderated by Jo Pimienta.

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 13th

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 14th